Gadfly barely blocked two long spears, but a third enemy soldier pierced his shoulder, blood staining his battle armour.
“Chen Ping!” Hu Mazi called out urgently, “This array…”
“Child’s play.”
Chen Ping sneered, the Dragon-Slaying Sword suddenly emitting a clear dragon’s roar.
He pointed his sword to the heavens, nine golden sword shadows appearing around him, “Break the array!”
The nine sword beams struck a node of the triangular light array like meteors.
The three grey-robed elders grunted simultaneously, fine cracks appearing in the array.
Chen Ping’s eyes blazed with brilliance, his second strike following swiftly, “Slash!”
The Dragon-Slaying Sword transformed into a hundred-zhang giant blade, slashing down, the entire array trembling violently.
The lead elder spat out a mouthful of blood, shocked, “How did he find the array’s eye?”
“Because you’re too foolish.”
Chen Ping suddenly appeared above the three.
“Brother, for you…” Gadfly, seeing this, threw a bronze mirror to Chen Ping with all his strength!
This was the bronze mirror from Gadfly’s residence, used to view scenes in the Purgatory Arena.
Chen Ping caught the mirror and directed it towards the three elders.
The mirror reflected their panicked faces, and he said softly, “Now, it’s my stage.”
“Myriad Illusions Heavenly Art!”
The bronze mirror erupted with blinding white light, causing the three elders to instinctively close their eyes.
When they opened them, the battlefield had vanished, replaced by boundless mist.
“Illusion?” the elder on the left sneered, “A mere illusion…” Before he could finish, countless pale arms reached out from the mist, dragging him into an abyss. Amid his blood-curdling screams, the other two shuddered in horror.
In the real world, the three grey-robed elders suddenly stood frozen, their faces flickering with expressions of fear, ecstasy, and agony.
Their staves slipped from their hands, the array’s light curtain shattering like glass.
“No… don’t come near me!”
One of them suddenly clutched his head, kneeling and frantically waving his arms at the air, “Senior Brother, I didn’t kill you! It was Master who forced me!”
Another, entranced, caressed the void, murmuring, “Junior Sister… you’ve finally come to see me…” Suddenly, his face twisted, “What? The child in your womb is Senior Brother’s?”
The eldest was the most terrifying, tearing open his robe to reveal a chest covered in dense curse runes, kneeling and kowtowing frantically, “Master, spare me! I’ll never steal forbidden techniques again!”
The battlefield fell silent.
Flying Tiger City soldiers watched in horror as the array masters they relied on rambled like madmen, some even beginning to harm themselves.
Xie Zhong’s face was ashen, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
“You… what did you do to them?”
His voice quivered.
Chen Ping put away the mirror, saying lightly, “I merely let them face their most feared truths.” He turned to Hu Mazi, “Can you move now?”
Hu Mazi flexed his wrists, yellow talismans reforming at his fingertips, “These old bones can still fight.” He glanced at the three elders trapped in the illusion, whispering, “This is crueller than killing them.”
Indeed it was.
In the illusion, time flowed differently from reality, and the three elders were reliving their most unbearable memories in an endless loop.
The curse of their dying Senior Brother, the illicit affair between their beloved Junior Sister and their rival, the despair of being caught stealing forbidden techniques by their Master… all their buried, dark secrets were laid bare, replayed publicly in excruciating detail.
“Ah!!!” One elder suddenly bled from all seven orifices, smashing his own skull with a palm.
The other two soon followed, one biting off his tongue, the other gouging out his own eyes.
Xie Zhong finally broke, “Retreat! Full retreat!”
But it was too late.
The restored Rhino City warriors charged like tigers unleashed, Mad Immortal’s long blade whipping up a bloody whirlwind, Bai Yi’s arrows claiming multiple lives with each shot. Though wounded, Gadfly led the charge, “For Rhino City!”
Chen Ping did not pursue the fleeing soldiers, instead gazing towards the distant Eighth Palace, the Dragon-Slaying Sword humming in resonance with its master’s battle intent.
